Pages

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Carnival of African-American Genealogy -- First Edition

Wow! What a great idea to have a Carnival of African-American Genealogy, and I am proud to be a part of it! First of all I want to thank and commend Luckie for her Open Letter To The Genealogy Community, and bringing to my attention that any slave information I run into needs to be put out there and shared. Since I don't have any ancestors from the south, it didn't occur to me that I could descend from slave owners. Then I kicked myself in the head and said, "Wait a minute, there were slaves in the colonies."

Like Gwen, I too want to be the best 'friend of friends' I can be. I have started sifting through hubby's file first, and then I will look through my own, and my x's, and my sister-in-law's, etc. I will set aside a day to post what I have found. Most of what I have now is second hand information and may be posted on the web somewhere else, but I figured if posted here, it may be found more easily.

Today I want to talk about Captain George Cannon, my 4th great-grandfather. About 25 years ago, give or take a few, when I started delving into my mom's ancestors I learned about the stories of Captain Cannon, the Manx mariner. He was a merchant mariner who dabbled in privateering and smuggling. Captain Cannon's house (still standing today) had as many rooms below ground as above (I imagine that is where he kept his booty). He died at sea in 1811 as the result of a mutiny aboard his ship. Never have been able to find the reason for the mutiny.

At one point several years ago I was considering writing a book about him, maybe an historical fiction based on true events of course, about swashbuckling and what not (I could imagine watching it on the big screen). I mean, who doesn't love a good pirate romance, right? As I started doing research on the old Captain I discovered that his logbook dated 1798-1800 still exists today. I was able to download a copy of it here.

In the logbook the Captain keeps track of weather conditions, location, and anything notable. On the entry for June 22, is the following reference: "Cooper making tubs for the slaves." (What?!) Then again on September 3: "Messed 420 slaves," adding "expended 200 yams, 13,945 remains, also beans and rice." He narrates some cases of sickness and a couple of deaths among the slaves.I had come to the sad realization that my captain was a slave trader.

I was heart broken. My infatuation with Captain George seemed to lessen after I learned the ugly truth. I mean, I can't even watch a movie or television show about slaves being mistreated without getting upset. My teeth and fists become clenched, breathing becomes erratic and I just want to kick the whip wielding bastard's ass!! (Can I say that?) I can't really explain the feeling that comes over me (past life memories?). Now I had to deal with the fact that ggg great-grandpa had a part in transporting slaves and trading some of them for goods. I can only hope that he was humane with them.

I have had a few years to let this all sink in, I have never really talked about it. I can't even remember if I told mom. But now, I tell myself that this is the past, it is all part of history and I can't change it. After all, we all have relatives (no matter how distant) that do things we disapprove of, but we still love them. I don't know if any of this babbling has helped anything or anyone other than being therapeutic for me, but there it is.

In 2007 the Isle of Man marked the 200th anniversary of the abolition of trade in slaves by British vessels. At their annual film night in the Manx museum they had a public screening of a new dvd called " Manx slave Traders", produced by Frances Wilkins. (He published the book in 1999.) Captain Cannon's logbook played a significant roll in producing this video.

Voyage 81918, Iris (1798)Voyage identification number: 81918Voyage in 1999 CD-ROM: YesVessel name: IrisFlag: Great BritainPlace constructed: LiverpoolYear constructed: 1783Rig: ShipTonnage: 285Standardized tonnage*: 285Guns mountedVessel owners: Fisher, Ralph Wedderbourne, JamesParticular outcome of voyage: Voyage completed as intendedOutcome of voyage for slaves*: Slaves disembarked in AmericasOutcome of voyage if ship captured*: Not capturedOutcome of voyage for owner*: Delivered slaves for original ownersPlace where voyage began*: LiverpoolFirst place of slave purchase: BonnyPrincipal place of slave purchase*: BonnyFirst place of slave landing: KingstonPrincipal place of slave landing*: KingstonPlace where voyage ended: LiverpoolRegion where voyage began*: EnglandFirst region of slave purchase: Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islandsPrincipal region of slave purchase*: Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islandsFirst region of slave landing: JamaicaPrincipal region of slave landing*: JamaicaRegion where voyage ended: EnglandYear arrived with slaves*: 1798Date voyage began: 1798-06-08Date vessel arrived with slaves: 1798-11-04Date vessel departed for home port: 1799-02-12Date voyage completed: 1799-04-12Voyage length, home port to slaves landing (days)*: 149Captain's name: Spencer, John Cannon, GeorgeCrew at voyage outset: 40Crew deaths during voyage: 9Number of slaves intended at first place of purchase: 419Total slaves embarked*: 452Number of slaves arriving at first place of landing: 414Total slaves disembarked*: 414( John Spencer was the Captain in the beginning of this voyage, but he died while on the ship so George Cannon took over as Captain.)

3 comments:

Interesting post and I was fascinated to read your reactions to your discovery. That would be disconcerting, wouldn't it? Perhaps more so than finding out that my husband's ancestral line included slaveowners in Alabama before the Civil War. The existence of the logbook, though, is a wondrous find, even if the story it tells is upsetting. But it is all part of history, the good with the bad (I also have a bigamist great-great-grandfather in my line!).

Very interesting post. I had to smile, just a bit, at your choice of words and your reactions to televised mis-treatment. First I smiled, then I realized, you are a kind soul who cares, deeply. Thanks for sharing.